The Restless Plant

Author:

Dov Koller

Publisher:

Harvard University Press

Publication Date:

2011

ISBN:

978–0–674–04863–8

cloth, 206 pp., $39.95

With an alluring title and a restless roaming root pictured on the cover, Dov Koller's important book on plant movement draws the reader in. Annual seeds are planted, grow, flower, and like all living things are agents of change. Yet, the subject of movement has not been featured in this sort of work almost since Charles Darwin approached the subject in 1881.

Koller focuses on creating an accessible yet comprehensive and up-to-date account of the incessant movement of all actively growing plants, incorporating many advances in plant science. Written in a nontechnical fashion, this work includes the author’s investigations as well as the results of other research on this fascinating topic. Koller touches on the importance of gravity, the role of light, responses to climate and other environmental factors, and a variety of other influences on plant movement. A few hours with this book will change your thinking about plants as immobile organisms. Nothing stays the same — everything living changes. That’s life.